​" My Zone" is the first installment of a profile series of the instructors who work at Zone of Light Studio. Our instructors help to make the Zone of Light Studio a special place for families and visitors and we wanted to highlight each member of our team. Look out for additional profiles over the next few months! Welcome to our Zone!

In our first installment, we profile T Dean White " Dean" , our lead art instructor who has been at The Zone since 2013.

Dean has been teaching Art and Art History to grades 3 through 10 for the past 9 years. He has worked as a freelance designer for over 20 years. Dean was an Art/Creative Director at several national advertising agencies and as a Graphic Design/Illustrator in Detroit. He designs and prints t-shirts for area Scout troops, churches and schools, is an active volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America (ask to see his collection of Pinewood Derby cars!).​

T Dean White – “My Zone”

Hometown (birthplace) – Pontiac, MI

Alma Mater – Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI

Your first job – Handyman for an apartment complex – starting when I was 13

First brush with art – 3rd Grade, a friend showed me a cool way to draw Dracula, and I’ve never stopped doodling

Favorite art or cultural museum in Atlanta – The High – love their special exhibits like the Ancient Chinese Terra Cotta Army, or Dream Cars, or Impressionists, or Dali, or…

Favorite Place to eat in Atlanta – Any place that serves a good steak and a dark beer.

Favorite place in the world – Eden, Vermont – been going there to camp with the family for over 50 years.

Favorite gadget – Amazon Echo (Alexa spoils you)

How many years at “ The Zone” – All of them (been working for The Zone since before it opened in 2013).

Perfect Day at the Zone is – Any day where I can work with kids that are as excited about art as I am.

​With much excitement, Zone of Light Studio has expanded in their dream to open a larger space that embraces holistic learning through the creative process. Our new space, 1202 Zonolite Road, offers a little something for everyone. Our parties are as simple or detailed as the consumer wants. While we have many standard options of themes, we are overjoyed with inventing new themes for your specific event. We currently offer art classes at several local schools but will begin offering evening classes at the studio in the near future. If you have a suggestion for a class, please email us! We listen!!! Some of our previous classes have included, acting, sewing, knitting, guitar, sketching, family cartooning, DIY projects, creative writing and even a children/family book club.

We look forward to beginning that again soon.

What we are most excited about is our upcoming camp sessions. The teachers are hired for one week sessions and have an input in the theme lesson plans. This allows them to be creative and confident and individualized in their lessons. The ratio is 13-1 or less, with a certified teacher or artist at all times. Your children's safety and comfortable learning environment is of utmost importance to us. We embrace diversity and encourage parents to share strengths and weaknesses about their children so we can better prepare and help them grow and be happy.

Our summer programs are art based, but make no mistake, we have story time, creative movement, dance parties, game time, free read, a video if they choose, free sketching and in the mornings, we often walk to the park for nature time. The new space allows us a new freedom that we have not had in our previous location. We can divide into smaller groups within the studio to allow centers and continual growth in each individual.

We hope you take the time to come and see how wonderful this model is. I have taught school for thirteen years and this was a piece of the day that was often missing in the school. Freedom to be children, freedom to express themselves and try something new, freedom to create and get dirty and have small group lessons with holistic learning.